


there's still color

by mypetersburg



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, But just a little, F/M, Missing Scene, Sally Jackson is a Good Parent, very Annabeth centric, we love Sally Jackson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:40:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25010284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mypetersburg/pseuds/mypetersburg
Summary: But Sally Jackson was, like, a real mom. Annabeth got why Percy wanted to save her so badly.A light look through each book, with the progression of Sally and Annabeth's relationship.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase & Sally Jackson (Percy Jackson), Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Athena & Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson & Sally Jackson
Comments: 5
Kudos: 152





	there's still color

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! This started as a strictly Annabeth and Sally Jackson bonding thing, and snowballed into a light summary of each PJO book through Annabeth's eyes (with lots of Sally content, don't you worry). Either way, I hope you enjoy it!

Really, Annabeth knows that she doesn’t love Percy solely for his mother. Of course not. Percy is good and sweet, and kind, and ridiculously hot. She loves him for him. Obviously.

But, still. Sally’s a nice added bonus.

\- 

Annabeth was young when she first met Sally, and instantly liked her. It’s easy to spot why, honestly. Annabeth never had a mother. Athena was there, but not _there_. A goddess doesn’t have the time to visit one of her kids. A goddess has a real job, a whole world to maintain.

Annabeth got it, kind of. She told her father that she did, that she’d play nice with her step-mom, but it really wasn’t _fair_. It wasn’t Annabeth’s fault that Athena was busy. The least she could do was send a birthday card, right? Even a lousy gift card would suffice. But she never got anything, except for monsters on her hide and the occasional dream visit. But Sally Jackson was, like, a real mom. Annabeth got why Percy wanted to save her so badly.

(She would’ve gotten it anyway, of course. But she’d never had a mom, not a real one who baked cookies and wore aprons and smiled like everything and nothing mattered at once.)

It was after the mess with Ares and Olympus and the missing lightning bolt that they properly met each other, and Sally hugged Annabeth tight. It made her blush more than she’d like to admit, but Sally just smiled and squeezed her cheeks affectionally.

“You’re a good kid, Annabeth. Smart.” Sally had said, tears in her eyes. “You’ll be good for Percy. Knock some sense into his head, huh?”

“That’s impossible, Mrs. Jackson.” Annabeth smiled, voice all prim and pretty. Percy had gaped, Grover had broken into peals of laughter, and Sally had smiled all too knowingly.

“I think you’ll manage it, sweetie.”

And, really, Annabeth tried not to mention Sally too much when she told her father the story. She didn’t want to make him jealous, or feel inadequate. 

But Sally had made her feel important. And Annabeth knew, of course, that her father loved her. But he loved books, too. And planes. And war models.

Sally loved Percy above all. And maybe, Annabeth thought, maybe there was room for her there, too.

-

The whole Sea of Monsters business was an _entirely_ different story. 

Annabeth didn’t mean to tear Percy and Tyson away from school, or to mess up his perfect last day. 

(Really, though, that wasn’t Annabeth’s fault. Percy is, despite all his great qualities, notoriously _great_ at ruining school for himself.)

He looked kind of adorable, though, which made Annabeth blush when she thought about it. Thank gods for the baseball cap, honestly. 

He quickly became less cute after they fought, but, really. Annabeth knew Tyson was nice, and young, and meant well. But Cyclopes didn’t exactly make her feel all too comfortable, either.

Annabeth wasn’t as worried about Tyson as she was _Sally_. Logically, she knew that Sally was probably upset with her. After all, she did steal Percy and Tyson away with hardly a second word, whisked them off to camp without any warning.

Any logical, rational parent would be mad. But it was Sally. Annabeth hated the idea of Sally being angry, especially with her. Sally was too sweet, and Annabeth liked her too much. Disappointing her seemed like a punishment thought up by the _worst_ evil.

(And, briefly, while Annabeth was hauling the boys back to camp, she thought about the brownies Sally sent her. Dyed blue, bursting with chocolate chips. Would Annabeth get those brownies again, if she didn’t send Percy home alive?)

But it’s okay, eventually. Annabeth didn’t expect it to be, not for a while there. She expected to die, which would make Sally even _more_ upset. Also, she’d never get those brownies- not if she were dead.

But Sally wasn’t mad at her, not when she brought the boys home. And Grover. And the Fleece (though, if anyone asked, that was _all_ Clarisse). 

In fact, Sally had hugged her, and told her she was proud. Like always, or at least, like last time.

And, as an added little bonus, Annabeth hadn’t blushed, not at that hug.

-

She’s embarrassed to admit it, but Annabeth thought a lot about Percy when she held up the sky, back breaking under the weight. She thought about how he danced with her, she thought about how easy Percy Jackson made her want to give up the thought of being a Hunter. Of immortality.

And when thinking about Percy was too much, and made her head spin, she thought about Sally.

Sally, who’d picked her up and greeted her warmly. Sally, who’d told her the most _embarrassing_ stories about baby Percy on the drive to the school. (Like, really embarrassing stories.) 

Sally, who’d thought she was the most level-headed demigod she’d ever met. Who trusted Annabeth to keep Percy from death every time (and Annabeth did. Obviously).

Sally sent her cookies at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Sally even remembered her birthday, though she didn’t have to.

Thinking about Sally hurt, too.

Thinking about her dad was even worse. She’d finally started to be okay with him, and they’d worked their whole mess of a relationship out. And then Annabeth had to go and get _kidnapped_. Right in the middle of all that good, she got taken! And Luke had _tricked_ her, and she was going to die under the weight of the stupid, idiotically blue and heavy sky. 

Artemis took the weight off of her shoulders. Thank the gods. Annabeth is too exhausted to thank her properly, but she was alive. Somehow.

It was Dad that saved her. With his plane that Annabeth never had faith in, and he _saved_ her. 

When Annabeth talked to Sally, and told her that she was alive and okay, she slipped in that detail about her dad. She was proud of him, and Sally was happy for her.

“So you’ll be safe until the summer, then?”

“No promises, Mrs. Jackson.” Annabeth paused, smiled. “Will you send me brownies again?”

“You _did_ hold the sky. I think that warrants a double batch, don’t you?”

-

Stupid Seaweed Brain and stupid Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

Which wasn’t fair, in retrospect. Annabeth knew that Rachel wasn’t at fault for Percy missing their date, but she’d been so _excited_. She’d told her dad, and her step-mom, and even her little twin step-brothers. She was happy! Percy was going to hang out with her, and if she reached down and held his hand, then that would just be a nice addition to the day.

But Annabeth didn’t get that. She got Percy tumbling out of a burning school, with a red-headed girl at his heels, and then a frantic taxi ride to camp.

She should’ve gotten the stupid date. Because everything was in shambles, and Grover was in trouble, and Juniper was a mess, and Percy wouldn’t even go out with her.

And then, soon, the anger over the date dissipated, because, _hello,_ the Labyrinth!

And then the prophecy, which. Not great, not at _all_. Losing a love to worse than death.

(She could not have _possibly_ known it’d be Luke! She…she thought it would be Percy. That Percy would be lost to something worse than death, but- what was worse than death? Rachel wasn’t _worse than death_.)

(Kronos was.)

Percy died. He died, and that was that. What kind of _stupid_ prophecy line was that? Death was the _worst_! Percy was dead, he was lost, and…and someone would have to tell Sally.

Someone would have to tell Sally that Percy was dead. And maybe it’d be Annabeth. Maybe it’d be Chiron, but Annabeth would be with him. She would watch Sally cry and break down, wouldn’t she?

Annabeth had never _failed_ before. _Ever_. The one thing that Sally expected of her was to keep Percy alive. And Annabeth couldn’t even keep him _alive_! He was dead, the prophecy was idiotic, and the Labyrinth cost her everything.

Annabeth didn’t think the kiss would be goodbye. Not like that. But it was, wasn’t it? Percy was dead, Annabeth had to speak, and Sally had to be informed.

Forget it. She hated the Labyrinth.

The stupidly brave idiot had made it out alive! Alive, and, yeah, harmed- but alive! Sally wouldn’t bury her son. Annabeth wasn’t the great failure who failed to save his skin.

Percy was alive, and that was all that mattered. That was it.

And then, after she’d worked out where he was, Annabeth wondered if Calypso was the thing worse than death.

No, scratch that. Percy was back, which meant she didn’t lose him to Calypso. She _was_ , however, going to lose her quest. And to _Rachel Elizabeth Dare_ , no less.

Sally was too smart for her own good. Annabeth _hated_ that she could tell what was going on. She hated that Sally knew how stupidly jealous she was. Percy was an idiot about girls, true, but Sally was not.

And the blue chocolate chip cookies were nice, and so was talking to Sally, but Annabeth wilted when they told her the plan. 

And Annabeth promised, like she always did, to keep Percy alive. That was the deal. 

(But it didn’t mean that she couldn’t still be mad, though.)

And when Percy had gone off to call Rachel (he memorized the number, seriously?), Sally had fixed Annabeth with a knowing smile.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Annabeth grumbled, and Sally smiled.

“I know.”

“Well. I wanted to make sure you did.” She furiously shoved the other half of the cookie in her mouth. “These are really good, Mrs. Jackson.”

“Thank you, Annabeth.” Sally took a sip of her coffee and paused. “You be safe, too. Protecting Percy doesn’t mean killing yourself.”

“I know,” Annabeth said, and Sally set another cookie in her hand.

“Well. I wanted to make sure you did,” she repeated, a perfect mimic of Annabeth's words.

And then she reached across the table, squeezed Annabeth’s hand, and said nothing else.

Despite how much Rachel annoyed her, Annabeth had to hand it to her. She got them out. And she got them Daedalus, and a terrifying battle, but she still led them through the Labyrinth.

Even if she didn’t like her, Annabeth had to begrudgingly admit that was _pretty_ cool. And when the dust settled, and the dead were accounted for, Annabeth took a moment to silently appreciate Rachel.

And then she took a moment to mourn. And then put together how the Prophecy had wound itself up, all neat and clean.

She wasn’t mad at Percy when she bid him goodbye. She was exhausted, she was destroyed to learn that Luke was joining Kronos, and she hated Hera.

But not Percy. And not Rachel, because she’d done them a good dead. Even if she was a mortal girl who stuck her nose in Annabeth’s quest.

“Tell your mom I said hi, okay?” Annabeth asked as she said goodbye, and Percy grinned.

So he would, then. And Sally would send her brownies in a month, but things would not be the same. Not like before.

-

It was hard to process anything during the Battle of Manhattan. Even while they fought, Annabeth wasn’t really there. She was, like, watching herself from afar. From above.

When she dove in front of Percy, she really didn’t know it was his weak spot. She knew that she promised Sally that she’d keep him alive. Taking the hit meant keeping him alive.

(Though Sally did warn her, nearly a year ago, that keeping Percy alive didn’t mean killing herself. Annabeth tried to think that she was taking her advice.)

(She wasn’t.)

“Oh my gods,” Annabeth groaned as she recovered, focusing on Percy. “Your mom is going to _kill_ me.”

“No, she won’t.” He said, sure of himself in that way he was. “You kept your end of the bargain. Kept me alive, remember?”

“She made me promise not to kill myself while doing it!”

Percy reached down then and grabbed her hand. The way Sally did in the kitchen last summer. He squeezed, looked away, and swallowed hard, and squeezed tighter.

“You’re not dying, Wise Girl. My mom doesn’t have anything to kill you over.”

“So she’ll bake me some blue confectionary, right?”

“Let’s win the war, first.”

“Percy.” Annabeth waited for him to look at her, before raising her eyebrows. “Do you think it’ll be cupcakes? With her cream cheese frosting?”

“Yeah,” Percy said, nodding. He smiled at her as her eyes drifted shut. “I can arrange that, I bet.”

When she saw Sally in that car, Annabeth’s heart stopped as quickly as Percy’s. And she had to keep a level head, for him, but it _sucked_.

Sally was in there, and Paul, and they needed to be safe. She couldn’t let them die, because they had to see how _good_ she was at keeping their stupid kid alive.

So, she handled it. She handled it, and then, of course, Rachel Elizabeth Dare came to greet them.

She might’ve felt cool, perfectly landing that helicopter, had her blood not been running hot. She could not look at them, at Percy and Rachel so clearly thrilled to see the other alive.

She stalked off into the crowd, found the Prius in the alley, and watched Sally for a few moments.

“You know,” Annabeth said, blinking back dumb tears. “I took a blade for your dimwit son. And he _still_ brings in the mortal girl.”

Annabeth paused, looked at Sally’s sleeping face.

“That’s not fair, I guess. Rachel really helped us last summer.” 

She sighed, blew out a breath, blowing her hair away. 

“It just sucks, you know?” She glanced at the way she came. “Anyway, Mrs. Jackson. I have to go now, but…stay safe, okay? Protecting Percy doesn’t mean killing yourself. Remember that?”

Quickly, Annabeth opened the door, squeezed Sally’s hand, and then turned away. It was time to handle Percy, Dare, and the whole of Manhattan.

Thank the gods, she got a quick break. Percy and Elizabeth hadn’t gotten themselves into trouble, which meant that Annabeth got to sleep.

Or, rather, lie awake and worry. About her dad, her mom (the real one- Athena), and Sally. She worried that her dad would do something stupidly brave, like he did when she was thirteen. She worried that Athena would get herself in over her head. She might’ve been the goddess of, you know, wisdom, but…well, even wise girls can throw themselves in headfirst. 

Annabeth worried not _for_ Sally, but for what would happen if Sally were hurt. Provided that she and Percy survived this thing, he’d be a wreck without Sally.

And so would Annabeth. But Sally was asleep, cuddled up all cozy in her Prius, and Annabeth had a war to fight. She had to practice what she preached, and get some rest.

The world was yanked out from beneath her feet.

Silena was dead, and a traitor. She was a spy, but, more importantly, she was _dead_. 

Annabeth had seen dead people. Eleven months ago, she saw her fair share of dead friends.

But it was different now, watching Silena die in Clarisse’s arms. She died a hero’s death, she went down with the greatest fight Annabeth had ever seen.

But she was dead. She was dead, and they had to fight for her. They’d all end up like Silena if they waited too long. 

Annabeth knelt, closed her eyes, and allowed herself a breath.

“We have to fight.” She said, staring at Silena. She was pretty even in death, the silly, stupidly brave girl. “She gave her life to help us. We have to honor her.” 

Annabeth cried on the elevator ride up to Olympus and prayed Percy couldn’t see.

She could’ve been Silena. Annabeth was such a _blind_ girl, trusting completely in Luke, refusing to believe it even after Percy gave her hard proof last summer. Annabeth could’ve been the spy, dying on the Manhattan ground in Clarisse’s arms. 

She leaned her head against the elevator wall after she snapped at Percy, and tried not to let her shoulders shake while she sobbed.

Sally Jackson shot a Laistrygonian giant in the face like an action hero. Cranked the pump, and blew the thing right back onto Nico’s sword.

If Annabeth’s world wasn’t crumbling at her feet, she might’ve taken the time to admire her. 

But she didn’t. Silena was dead, Kronos was about to kill her, and Sally Jackson being cool was nothing new.

But still, Annabeth filed it away to dwell on later as she ran for the elevator.

She was pleading with a Kronos cruelly masquerading himself as Luke, and that wasn’t even the half of it.

But she _knew_. He wouldn’t kill her. He’d beat her around, he’d send her sprawling and bloody after a hit, but he wouldn’t kill her. She needed to talk to Luke. 

And she did, somehow. He hit her and he screamed at her, but Luke managed to peak through.

Blood dribbling from his mouth, she told him he was a hero. And she _meant_ it, which surprised her.

But he was. He was a hero at the end. He killed himself to kill Kronos. There was nothing more heroic than that.

“You were like a brother to me, Luke,” she said, as he bled and died before her. 

And when the Fates snipped the lifeline, Annabeth knew it was _done_. It was really, really done.

After all of it, after being bestowed the honor to rebuild Olympus, and Percy giving up immortality, and talking to Athena, and mourning Luke, Annabeth still had enough left in her to give Sally the tightest hug she possibly could.

“Mrs. Jackson!” She cried, squeezing her so tight she was scared she’d break her. 

“Annabeth, I’m so proud of you.”

“I- you looked like…like some sort of crazy action hero! You used a _shotgun_ , Mrs. Jackson!”

“Don’t get any ideas,” Sally said, trying for a stern face and failing terribly.

“Please.” Annabeth flipped her hand. “Shotguns have nothing on _real_ weapons, don’t worry.”

Sally sobered up a little then, placed her hands on Annabeth’s shoulders, and stared her in the eyes.

“You kept Percy alive, Annabeth. I can't thank you enough.”

“I always keep that promise.”

“I know what you did to save him.”

Annabeth blushed, looked down at her bloody sneakers.

“Yeah, well. I listened, didn’t I? Saved Percy, kept myself alive in the process.”

“You always listen.” Sally was hugging her again. “I told you how good of an influence you’d be on Percy.”

-

The dust settled eventually. Rachel became the Oracle, stupid blind Seaweed Brain finally realized that Annabeth was _obsessed_ with him, and the camp recovered. Brick by brick.

Percy kissed her, and Rachel was actually cool, and Annabeth had somehow lived to see the Great Prophecy be true. 

Everything would be okay again, definitely. And besides. There was a double batch of blue-dyed brownies in her future, Annabeth just knew it.

**Author's Note:**

> Easily the longest thing I've ever written, but it was super duper fun!  
> Please let me know what you think! I say light canon divergence because, let's be honest, I tweaked a few moments. Either way, I hope you enjoyed it! Comments are always appreciated.


End file.
